Such vacuum cleaners (see German Patent 36 03 176 A1) consist of an upper housing section receiving the structural unit including the operating elements as well as of a lower section which is divided by separating walls into a dust collection chamber for the dust filter bag, the suction chamber and a housing chamber for a cable coil. In the assembled state, the separating walls are covered in an air-tight manner by the upper housing section with a lid hinged to the upper housing section sealing the dust collection chamber. In this context it is known to arrange the operating elements for controlling rotations and/or for energizing the apparatus as well as key for operating the cable winder as a single structural unit on an upper portion of the vacuum cleaner housing above the housing chamber for the suction device. In this arrangement, at least the keys positioned laterally of a center operating component are structured as kick pedals with large surfaces pivotally connected to the center component. The center component in essence receives rotational or slidable means for adjusting the output of the suction device which, in turn, is controlled by an electronic control disposed within the suction chamber (see German Patent 44 26 634 A1). An arrangement of the electronic control at the exterior of the suction chamber in the housing of the apparatus is also known (see German Utility Model 74 08 275). In this arrangement the electronic control is mounted on a printed circuit board or plate.
Furthermore, German Patent DE 93 09 493 describes a vacuum cleaner with a support plate which is attached to a cable drum which creates the electrical connection. The support plate also includes the components necessary for controlling the motor.
A significant drawback of the known arrangements is that the electrical connection between the circuit board of the electronic control arranged within the interior of the housing and the electrical switch and the output controls as well as visual indicators on the operating elements of the vacuum cleaner installed outside of the motor chamber have to be fabricated manually and in a time-consuming manner. The manual time-consuming wiring renders the assembly and fabrication sequence of the apparatus complex and may lead to wiring errors in case of personnel not specifically trained. This is particularly so with variants having operating elements which are country-specific or which are dependent upon given types of apparatus. Moreover, leaks may occur at wire passages between housing sections. In addition, because of tight installation conditions regarding the aspirator or the operating elements combined as operational groups, it is often a problem to arrange the electronic control with its power switches and associated cooling surfaces such that sufficient cooling is attained. In the state of the art (German Utility Model 74 08 275) in which the switch plate with its output control elements (triacs etc.) is arranged in its own chamber within the vacuum cleaner provided in its walls with cooling slots for ambient air, sufficient cooling is possible only because the cooling body of the power switch is made excessively large. However, modern compact and small vacuum cleaners lack sufficient space for such purposes. Moreover, the problem remains of time-consuming wiring of the vacuum cleaner electronics with its operating elements.